"Tuition shall be without charge" Means something Less Than Free in Indiana
Justin Bathon on Thursday, April 13, 2006 at 10:23PM An
extra $20.00 for every enrolled student to help pay for some of the costs
associated with the school. The Indiana Constitution guarantees "tuition
shall be without charge, and equally open to all.” The two met head to head in
the Indiana Supreme Court and the additional $20 charge was declared
unconstitutional.
The case is Nagy
v. Evansville-Vanderburgh Sch. Corp. It is an interesting case to read and
the nature of free tuition in
is fully examined. I implore any readers who live and deal with
it. The history of
schools is quite fascinating. The court concluded that "shall be without
charge" means something other than "free." However, the activity
charge did violate the "without charge" provision. The court found:
However, absent specific
statutory authority, fees or charges for what are otherwise public education
cost items cannot be levied directly or indirectly against students or their parents.
Only programs, activities, projects, services or curricula that are outside of
or expand upon those identified by the legislature—what we understand to be
“extracurricular”—may be considered as not a part of a publicly-funded
education. And thus a reasonable fee may be assessed, but only against those
students who participate in or take advantage of them.
It seems then, that charges for anything that is provided
for as part of the public education curriculum, shall be publicly provided. I
would assume this includes fees for textbook charges and science supplies and
drafting equipment and so on. However charges can be assessed for
extracurricular activities.
Look for schools, then, to shift the money after this case from that which is
presently being provided for any extracurriculars to the general education
funds. Then, the schools will charge fees for every extracurricular activity
from football to scholar bowl to yearbook to everything else.
It seems there are still some issues for the legislature to address. If schools
are going to start charging high prices for extracurriculars, then will
everyone still have access to participation? Isn't after school activities just
part of the school experience? It is hard to imagine elementary school without
thinking of the times I spent having fun with friends in after school
activities. The Indiana Court has weighed in, now it is up to the Indiana
Legislature and legislatures around the country to provide for extracurricular
funding as well.
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